Sailing from Southampton has it's pro's and con's. Firstly you don't have to worry about the weight of luggage, you can take as much as you like. We parked on the docks car park ABP parking gate 8, no trouble at all. The check in at the terminal to board ship was swift, there are many desks to deal with volume of people. Sailing from Southampton you automatically have a drinks package included, needless to say people were drinking from early morning until 1am the following morning, with children running around and pushchairs all around dance floor, and toddlers running up and down dance floor. We were informed by a member of staff that it is only Southampton the drinks package is included. If like us you are of the older generation, and don't want this sort of atmosphere, it is worth flying somewhere on a different itinerary.

There is an ice skating rink on board which there is a show performed over 5 shows, to accommodate all passengers, don't miss it, it is well worth going, amazing. One evening they covered the ice with a dance floor and the 9 piece orchestra on board played for us to do ballroom dancing, however only a handful did. Another evening they covered it again and it was a 50's 60's evening, so we were jiving and twisting. There is a dance floor in the lounge on deck 5 where you can dance to Horizon, who were brilliant. The evening entertainment was also very good. The final night after the show the managers from different departments all went on stage where poppers exploded at the end. There was a farewell sing-along on the bridge across the shopping promenade which also was very good.

We had a verandah stateroom on deck 9 which was ideal. There is a cinema screen on the pool deck also they show films in the theatre a few times in the mornings. They have a rock climbing wall and a surfing area, which of course was not for us, but great for teenagers, we also enjoyed them on the ice skating rink, some really good and others trying not to fall. Read more